Though I agree with Nathan Schull’s point that our world is in desperate need of strong climate change reform, I very much disagree with his view that the way to solve this global climate crisis is through nuclear energy. Though it is true  nuclear power is a much safer alternative to the coal-burning power plants that make up the majority of our energy sources, the technology is simply not there for nuclear to be a viable energy alternative.In order for the U.S. and the world to make strides in energy efficiency, we must invest and develop renewable alternatives, like solar-, wind- and biofuels. According to Amory Lovins, a physicist with the Rocky Mountain Institute, nuclear power plants “cost too much to build and incur too much financial risk, and it would reduce and retard climate protection because it saves between  two and 20 times less carbon per dollar, 20 to 40 times slower, than investing in efficiency and micropower.” The main problem with nuclear power and what makes it an unviable solution, is the disposal of it. There is no permanent waste solution, and the “airtight” steel-and-concrete canisters in which waste is currently stored, such as in Haddam, Connecticut when the spent fuel pond of the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company leaked water containing radioactive material.However, we have the technology available now to further develop alternative fuels, including wind and solar power. Wind provides a local, clean source of electricity with the potential to provide 20 percent of the U.S.’s electricity supply by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, even more if wind farms are built offshore, which can capture energy during the afternoon, when energy use is at its peak. Like wind, solar power only accounts for about 1 percent of the U.S.’s energy use, but has the potential for growth if the U.S. implements the “feed-in tariff” system of Europe, which shifts the burden of subsidizing green energy from taxpayers to electricity ratepayers and has allowed the solar industry in Germany and Spain to boom.With the Copenhagen climate conference in December, this is the perfect opportunity to tell our policymakers clean and renewable alternatives are necessary for our country to evolve economically, scientifically and environmentally.Caroline GilchristInternational studies sophomore and secretary of Envioronmental Conservation Organization at LSU
 
 
 
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